Aloha !
Everyone who knows me a little bit knows I have a great interest in setlists. It's become a hobby of mine, not just with Bon Jovi's, I always look at what an artist plays and how he thinks he represents his career the best way.
Now, over a year ago I made a tutorial on how to make a a great set with who everybody would be happy with, fans and average joes. Back then I said the following of a North American tour;
Now, with The Circle having been released there obviously need to be made some changes to this schedule. I still stick to the theory that a band shouldn't play more than 4 songs of a new album on any tour. You come to promote your album, not to shove it down their throats. Playing 6 new songs in a set of 24 songs means that 25% of the set consists of new songs, which is too much unless the new album is such a hit that everyone goes to see you because you released a new album. Which is obviously not the case with The Circle.
Popularity wise this would mean the following for North America.
Code:
BJ = 1 = 1single
7800 = 1 = 1 single
SWW = 4 = 3 singles, 1 album cut
NJ = 4 = 3 singles, 1 album cut
KTF = 2 = 1 singles, 1 album cut
CR = 1 = 1 single
TD = 1 = 1 single
Crush = 1 = 1 single
Bounce = 1 = 1 single
HAND = 2 = 1 single, 1 album cut
LH = 1 = 1 single
The Circle = 4 = 3 singles, 1 album cut
Rare = 1 = A song from the box set, a song from TLFR,
a cover, whatever you want it to be.
TOTAL = 24 songs of which 15 are singles and 4 songs are
album cuts, 4 songs are new and 1 of which 1 song is a cover.
Bringing this to a setlist it'd mean any setlist would look like this;
Code:
1. Slippery When Wet album cut; Raise Your Hands
2. New Jersey single; Born To Be My Baby
3. Bon Jovi single; Runaway
4. Lost Highway single; Lost Highway
5. Slippery When Wet single; You Give Love A Bad Name
6. Have A Nice Day album cut; Story Of My Life
7. Rare song; Garageland
8. The Circle single; Superman Tonight
9. Bounce single; Everyday
10. New Jersey album cut; Homebound Train (Richie Sambora on lead vocals)
= acoustic set=
11. These Days single; Something For The Pain
12. Cross Road single; Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
13. New Jersey single; I'll Be There For You
= back to main set=
14. The Circle single; Work For The Working Man
15. Crush single; It's My Life
16. 7800 Fahrenheit single; In & Out Of Love
17. Keep The Faith single; Bed Of Roses
18. The Circle album track; Thorn In My Side
19. Have A Nice Day single; Who Says You Can't Go Home
20. Slippery When Wet single; Livin' On A Prayer
Encore:
21. New Jersey single; Bad Medicine / ?
22. The Circle single; Love's The Only Rule
23. Keep The Faith album track; Little Bit Of Soul
24. Slippery When Wet single; Wanted Dead Or Alive
Sure, some people's favourite songs might not be there (mine is Keep The Faith and it's nowhere to be found) but what die hard would complain that his favourite song isn't in the set when he gets rare stuff like Little Bit Of Soul and In & Out Of Love? And with every American big hit being in this set there's no average Joe that would think "meh, I didn't get what I expected".
This set is what you should expect when going to a Bon Jovi show. It's got the hits, it's got the stuff Jon loves (the new songs + Who Says, Everyday, Story Of My Life, Lost Highway), it's got the stuff die hards would love to hear (Little Bit Of Soul, Something For The Pain, In & Out Of Love) and it's got proper diversity that shows that this band has made more than just a few hits in the eighties and that one big song in the nineties. This set works, and the set Bon Jovi have constructed doesn't.
Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan